Drow religion is a subject of much mystery
and legend. As a rule of thumb though if you happen upon a band of Drow you
might want to consider that the most popular of Drow religions is the chaotic
worship of the goddess Lloth. Lloth happens to be the most unmerciful goddess
that the drow worship.
Drow that worship Lloth will more than likely be as forgiving of intrusion as
their deity.
Lloth, the Spider Queen, is cruel and
malicious. The only person in her world is herself. She is constantly plotting
to keep her loyal minions in a state of turmoil. She thrives as brother and
sister strive to kill mothers and other siblings in order to gain station and
therefore influence and power. This way she can find the strongest and most
cunning of her followers to serve her. Drow, being brought up under this religion,
are all but perfectly suited to this arrangement. With the Drow's instinctive
distrust and wit, all but the most wily of opponents will be thrown into disarray.
Seeing that Lloth is the goddess of chaos, this seems all but fitting.
The main object of affection among Lloth worshippers is the spider. It is a offense punishable by death to kill or even maim a spider. Lloth gives unto her most loyal henchmen a poisonous spider to aid, guard, but also to watch in their furtherance of the religion. It has been known that a follower be killed by the so gracious gift from Lloth.
Lloth is most frequently found in the form of giant black widow spider. This form can be changed to an extremely beautiful drow female. These two forms can also be combined to produce a giant spider with a lovely female Drow head. In any form Lloth is a presence to be feared. Instead of using her material form Lloth will more likely just show that she is watching by having a pair of smirking female lips appear on the nearest spider seen. If her help is needed more directly then she will imbue a follower with great fighting prowess like: always hitting first, weapons never breaking, and a improvement of armor protection. These followers are almost always surrounded by flickering black mauve edged radience.
The clergy of Lloth are all women. The
preistesses of Lloth are the only subjects of Lloth to hold any real power in
Drow society. An order from a priestess is an order from Lloth herself. Punishment
for disobedience is usually swift and destructive. Killing is not their style.
A victim has to have time to contemplate their fate. Many Drow find themselves
turned into Driders, a hideous half spider half Drow caricature of their former
selves. These Driders, however, are totally faithful to Lloth. A preistesses
is the judge, jury and executioner of the Drow society, and the power given
to her by Lloth is justification for any action that she may take.
A preistesses sole purpose in life is to weed out the weak and sanctify the
strong.
The Drow have no need for weaklings!
Elistraee is the goddess of the good drow. She is the Matron goddess of all the Drow that wish to return to the surface. Her trademarks are song and beauty. Not much is known about Elistraee except that she is quick to anger over the evil that most Drow do.
Elistraee will more likely lend aid to a creature she favors intead of appearing personally. She will grant favors, small ones, that give the the most practical answers. If the situation warrants her appearance she usually will appear as a tall Drow female with long glowing hair down to her ankles.
The clergy of Elistraee are female from any race. These preistesses further the cause of beauty and song. They must always carry one of their godesses favored instuments, the horn, flute, or harp. Their lot in life is to pursuade Drow to return to the surface world and work to improve surface relations.
Ghaunaduar is even less known than Elistraee. His nickname is That Which Lurks. He is unpredictable. When he appears he is seen as a purplish ooze with tentacles. His "followers" are mostly Drow that have fallen from the grace of Lloth or sub intellegent monsters. He has been known to aid followers that just talk highly of his eminence. The chances of his coming, when called, rise if blood has recently been spilled. All that is required of his preisthood is a steady supply of sacrifices. Aid given by Ghaunaduar is usually in the form of combat effectiveness and regenerative healing of injuries.
